2 For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves,
“Short and sorrowful is our life,
and there is no remedy when a life comes to its end,
and no one has been known to return from Hades.
² For we were born by mere chance,
and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been,
for the breath in our nostrils is smoke,
and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our hearts;
³ when it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes,
and the spirit will dissolve like empty air.
⁴ Our name will be forgotten in time,
and no one will remember our works;
our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud,
and be scattered like mist
that is chased by the rays of the sun
and overcome by its heat.
⁵ For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow,
and there is no return from our death,
because it is sealed up and no one turns back.

²¹ Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray,
for their wickedness blinded them,
²² and they did not know the secret purposes of God,
nor hoped for the wages of holiness,
nor discerned the prize for blameless souls;
²³ for God created us for incorruption,
and made us in the image of his own eternity,^[b]
24 but through the devil’s envy death entered the world,
and those who belong to his company experience it.

3 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
² In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was thought to be a disaster,
³ and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace.
⁴ For though in the sight of others they were punished,
their hope is full of immortality.
⁵ Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
⁶ like gold in the furnace he tried them,
and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.
⁷ In the time of their visitation they will shine forth,
and will run like sparks through the stubble.
⁸ They will govern nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord will reign over them forever.
⁹ Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with him in love,
because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,
and he watches over his elect.^[a]

¹⁰ But the ungodly will be punished as their reasoning deserves,
those who disregarded the righteous^[b]
and rebelled against the Lord;
¹¹ for those who despise wisdom and instruction are miserable.
Their hope is vain, their labors are unprofitable,
and their works are useless.
¹² Their wives are foolish, and their children evil;
¹³ their offspring are accursed.

For blessed is the barren woman who is undefiled,
who has not entered into a sinful union;
she will have fruit when God examines souls.
¹⁴ Blessed also is the eunuch whose hands have done no lawless deed,
and who has not devised wicked things against the Lord;
for special favor will be shown him for his faithfulness,
and a place of great delight in the temple of the Lord.
¹⁵ For the fruit of good labors is renowned,
and the root of understanding does not fail.
¹⁶ But children of adulterers will not come to maturity,
and the offspring of an unlawful union will perish.
¹⁷ Even if they live long they will be held of no account,
and finally their old age will be without honor.
¹⁸ If they die young, they will have no hope
and no consolation on the day of judgment.
¹⁹ For the end of an unrighteous generation is grievous.

7 I also am mortal, like everyone else,
a descendant of the first-formed child of earth;
and in the womb of a mother I was molded into flesh,
² within the period of ten months, compacted with blood,
from the seed of a man and the pleasure of marriage.
³ And when I was born, I began to breathe the common air,
and fell upon the kindred earth;
my first sound was a cry, as is true of all.
⁴ I was nursed with care in swaddling cloths.
⁵ For no king has had a different beginning of existence;
⁶ there is for all one entrance into life, and one way out.

⁷ Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given me;
I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.
⁸ I preferred her to scepters and thrones,
and I accounted wealth as nothing in comparison with her.
⁹ Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem,
because all gold is but a little sand in her sight,
and silver will be accounted as clay before her.
¹⁰ I loved her more than health and beauty,
and I chose to have her rather than light,
because her radiance never ceases.
¹¹ All good things came to me along with her,
and in her hands uncounted wealth.
¹² I rejoiced in them all, because wisdom leads them;
but I did not know that she was their mother.
¹³ I learned without guile and I impart without grudging;
I do not hide her wealth,
¹⁴ for it is an unfailing treasure for mortals;
those who get it obtain friendship with God,
commended for the gifts that come from instruction.

¹⁵ May God grant me to speak with judgment,
and to have thoughts worthy of what I have received;
for he is the guide even of wisdom
and the corrector of the wise.
¹⁶ For both we and our words are in his hand,
as are all understanding and skill in crafts.
¹⁷ For it is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists,
to know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements;
¹⁸ the beginning and end and middle of times,
the alternations of the solstices and the changes of the seasons,
¹⁹ the cycles of the year and the constellations of the stars,
²⁰ the natures of animals and the tempers of wild animals,
the powers of spirits^[a] and the thoughts of human beings,
the varieties of plants and the virtues of roots;
²¹ I learned both what is secret and what is manifest,
²² for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me.

There is in her a spirit that is intelligent, holy,
unique, manifold, subtle,
mobile, clear, unpolluted,
distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen,
irresistible, ²³ beneficent, humane,
steadfast, sure, free from anxiety,
all-powerful, overseeing all,
and penetrating through all spirits
that are intelligent, pure, and altogether subtle.
²⁴ For wisdom is more mobile than any motion;
because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things.
²⁵ For she is a breath of the power of God,
and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty;
therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her.
²⁶ For she is a reflection of eternal light,
a spotless mirror of the working of God,
and an image of his goodness.
²⁷ Although she is but one, she can do all things,
and while remaining in herself, she renews all things;
in every generation she passes into holy souls
and makes them friends of God, and prophets;
²⁸ for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom.
²⁹ She is more beautiful than the sun,
and excels every constellation of the stars.
Compared with the light she is found to be superior,
³⁰ for it is succeeded by the night,
but against wisdom evil does not prevail.

8 She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other,
and she orders all things well.

² I loved her and sought her from my youth;
I desired to take her for my bride,
and became enamored of her beauty.
³ She glorifies her noble birth by living with God,
and the Lord of all loves her.
⁴ For she is an initiate in the knowledge of God,
and an associate in his works.
⁵ If riches are a desirable possession in life,
what is richer than wisdom, the active cause of all things?
⁶ And if understanding is effective,
who more than she is fashioner of what exists?
⁷ And if anyone loves righteousness,
her labors are virtues;
for she teaches self-control and prudence,
justice and courage;
nothing in life is more profitable for mortals than these.
⁸ And if anyone longs for wide experience,
she knows the things of old, and infers the things to come;
she understands turns of speech and the solutions of riddles;
she has foreknowledge of signs and wonders
and of the outcome of seasons and times.

⁹ Therefore I determined to take her to live with me,
knowing that she would give me good counsel
and encouragement in cares and grief.
¹⁰ Because of her I shall have glory among the multitudes
and honor in the presence of the elders, though I am young.
¹¹ I shall be found keen in judgment,
and in the sight of rulers I shall be admired.
¹² When I am silent they will wait for me,
and when I speak they will give heed;
if I speak at greater length,
they will put their hands on their mouths.
¹³ Because of her I shall have immortality,
and leave an everlasting remembrance to those who come after me.
¹⁴ I shall govern peoples,
and nations will be subject to me;
¹⁵ dread monarchs will be afraid of me when they hear of me;
among the people I shall show myself capable, and courageous in war.
¹⁶ When I enter my house, I shall find rest with her;
for companionship with her has no bitterness,
and life with her has no pain, but gladness and joy.
¹⁷ When I considered these things inwardly,
and pondered in my heart
that in kinship with wisdom there is immortality,
¹⁸ and in friendship with her, pure delight,
and in the labors of her hands, unfailing wealth,
and in the experience of her company, understanding,
and renown in sharing her words,
I went about seeking how to get her for myself.
¹⁹ As a child I was naturally gifted,
and a good soul fell to my lot;
²⁰ or rather, being good, I entered an undefiled body.
²¹ But I perceived that I would not possess wisdom unless God gave her to me—
and it was a mark of insight to know whose gift she was—
so I appealed to the Lord and implored him,
and with my whole heart I said: